INTRODUCING OWEN PAULO Emerging from Direction Law (the former largest firm providing affordable housing conveyancing) comes Owen Paulo Legal Limited, a new conveyancing law firm solely specialising in shared ownership resales and staircasing LEGAL
leases have evolved over the years, we have to ensure that mortgage lenders’ requirements are met in respect of the lease. The same goes for increasing your share in the property, also known as “staircasing”. Many standard conveyancing firms may have only seen staircasing when acting on a transaction that includes it as a related aspect; however, Owen Paulo has a dedicated staircasing team that handles it as its own individual case. Whether it be increasing by a specific percentage, or staircasing up to 100% ownership, our team can handle it all. Although the process of staircasing does not take as long as a resale transaction (on average) it can be just as complex, and it very much depends on how a client is funding their staircasing, what type of staircasing they are proceeding with, SDLT payable and what housing association they currently share ownership with. As well as purchasing further shares, our staircasing department also acts on lease extensions, transfers of equity and
remortgages for shared ownership (and other affordable housing schemes). Proceeding with a solicitor that is not well versed in resales shared ownership or staircasing can have detrimental effects for you later down the line. It can cost you more in fees, take longer to complete, or if there are points that have been overlooked or registration of your ownership has not been lodged properly, it can delay your attempts at selling, staircasing or remortgaging. We appreciate that this is one of the most important moments of your life, and we guarantee we will treat it as such. So, if you are looking for the only specialist law firm in the country solely dealing with resale shared ownership conveyancing and staircasing conveyancing, look no further than Owen Paulo Legal who are here to assist you in your ownership of pre-loved property. For more information please visit owenpaulo.co.uk or for an instant quotation please call 0808 196 7010
Named after two of the partners (Lucy Owen and Sebastian Paulo) and comprising the same team members from the Resales and Staircasing departments at Direction Law, our conveyancers hold over 20 years of experience within shared ownership and have seen the evolution of these legal services over the years, from what was simply an offshoot of new build shared ownership to an ever-increasing alternative to new build shared ownership. We have a passion for pre-loved affordable housing, and this translates into our conveyancing. In our opinion, new build shared ownership gets all of the attention and it’s time for resales and staircasing to step out from behind and come into the spotlight! Our specialist teams, based at our office in Canterbury, have helped over 2,000 clients buy, sell or increase a share in their property within the last financial year, and we are recommended on many housing association and financial adviser panels up and down the country.There are many conveyancing solicitors out there, and you can instruct whoever you choose to; however, it can be a complex and daunting process, especially when it comes to resale shared ownership and staircasing transactions. As the property market continues to evolve, there is an increasing need for specialist legal services that cater to the unique requirements of these transactions. Even with the growth of affordable housing over recent years, many standard conveyancing firms consider shared ownership to be more complicated (and frankly they are not wrong!). A resale transaction, whether you are buying or selling, does take longer to complete on average and can be more complex. This is due not only to the fact that resale shared ownership properties are always leasehold, but as well as there being a seller and buyer, there is also the involvement of a third party – the housing association – to liaise with. Due to a housing association’s involvement in the process, including assistance in finding a buyer and approval of the buyer’s mortgage offer, a shared ownership lease can also contain clauses that are not seen in your “everyday” lease. In addition, as shared ownership
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